By Jamie L. Freedman
Women’s health took center stage April 8 at the 11th annual Women’s Leadership Conference on the Mount Vernon Campus. The full-day event, titled Whole-istic U, brought together more than 100 professional women—including many GW staff members, alumnae and students—for a day of discussion, interactive workshops and networking.
The annual springtime conference celebrating women leaders featured accomplished speakers in fields ranging from women’s health policy to nutrition and stress management.
Phyllis Greenberger, president and CEO of the Society for Women’s Health Research, kicked off the conference with a keynote address titled “The Evolution of Women’s Health.” One of the United States’ leading advocates for women’s health, she has led the Washington-based organization since its founding in 1990.
“We created the society to help make women’s health issues more of a national priority,” she said. “Prior to our establishment, women were not routinely included in clinical research trials. Many diseases, conditions and drugs affect women differently than men, and we advance awareness of those differences as well as promote legislation and research focusing on women’s health.”
Ms. Greenberger said that thanks to the society’s efforts, women are now routinely included in most major medical research studies and scientists are beginning to consider biological sex as a variable in their research. “We’ve made progress, but still have a long way to go,” she said.
She encouraged the conference participants to educate their physicians about the importance of treating women differently than men and to volunteer for clinical trials. “In some cases, you’ll be helping yourself, but in all cases, you’ll be helping future generations of women,” she said.
Next on the agenda were three parallel professional development sessions on eating right, stress management and caring for aging parents.
Patricia Bannan, a Los Angeles-based registered dietician specializing in nutrition and health communications, led the first workshop, “Eat Right When Time Is Tight,” based on her new book of the same name. She offered practical tips and master strategies for eating better—from “fat proofing” your home and office to using smaller plates and consuming low-calorie, healthy, pre-meal appetizers.
The stress management workshop, led by Patti Plaza and Jacque Johnson of GW’s Department of Exercise Science, offered a holistic approach to combating stress—encompassing everything from massage therapy and exercise to meditation and yoga.
Susan Lutz, a national expert on independent living and aging issues, led the third workshop, focusing on aging parents.
Participants then headed to Eckles Library for a healthy lunch and health resources fair, featuring nearly 20 booths promoting women’s health offerings in the greater Washington area.
Post Hall was packed for the afternoon address featuring Kira Fortune of the Pan-American Health Organization, who offered a global perspective on women’s health and gender equality in her sweeping talk titled “Women’s Health: Today’s Challenges, Tomorrow’s Agenda.”
Dr. Fortune, who has spent the past decade working in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America in positions related to public health and gender, spoke about the state of women’s health and equity across the world, with an emphasis on the Americas.
Roughly one out of three women experience domestic violence, she said. “It is a huge challenge and a priority for the Pan-American Health Organization, which was the first to recognize domestic violence as a public health issue,” she stated.
“The more unequal a society is, the higher the infant and maternal mortality rates are,” Dr. Fortune continued, stressing that gender equality is not just a policy but a plan of action for PAHO. She pointed out that a new entity has been established in the United Nations to address women’s issues in health and equality, and urged that we must “continue to work hand in hand with policymakers to invest in girls, women and their health and to integrate pro-poor and gender-sensitive health policies.”
“We have seen a lot of improvements in terms of women’s health and equity worldwide, but we can’t rest on our laurels,” she cautioned. “Concrete and gender-responsive steps must be taken to continue the process.”
The conference concluded with a lively panel discussion titled “Leadership: Whole-istic U,” moderated by Laura Taddeucci Downs, B.A. ’92, M.A. ’95, president of the GW Alumni Association and featuring panelists Katherine Holeman, B.A. ’07, a GW medical student and alumna of the Women’s Leadership Program; Jean Johnson, dean of GW’s new School of Nursing; Lori Lerman, a registered nurse, international board-certified lactation consultant and music teacher; and Jacqueline Watson, MBA ’81, executive director of the District of Columbia Health Regulation and Licensing Administration Board of Medicine and president of Jamaican Women of Washington Inc.
“This was our 11th leadership conference - and probably our best one,” says Rachelle S. Heller, associate provost for the Mount Vernon Campus. “Women's health, just as women themselves, is not monolithic—it is a holistic juggling act, and the conference provided us with opportunities to discuss many important aspects of it. We look forward to seeing everyone at next year’s conference on Friday, March 30, 2012.”